This is really good-Apple Pie ice cream

My first post! Yay!!

Ingredients

• 8 oatmeal cookies, crushed
• 2 tablespoons melted butter, divided
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• 2 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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• 3 cups whipping cream
• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
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• 1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
• 1/4 cup dulce de leche or caramel ice cream topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Mix the crushed cookies with 1 tablespoon of melted butter, and press onto a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes, then remove, allow to cool completely, then crumble.
3. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the apples, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Cook until the apples have lightly browned, and the sugar has begun to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan, and allow to cool completely.
4. Combine cream, half and half, 1 cup sugar, eggs, vanilla, and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon in a large bowl; mix to blend well. Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.
5. When the ice cream has finished, stir in the crumbled cookie, caramelized apples, and walnuts. Add the dulce de leche by the teaspoon while stirring to evenly distribute.

Soft Pretzels!!!

I just made these, and they are AMAZING!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buttery-soft-pretzels/detail.aspx

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
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• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 4 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

The baking soda helps it brown...much better than egg whites!! It doesn't alter the flavor at all either. These are so yummy!!

Cooking Tip: Oven Temp

I'm going to try to post cooking tips to increase your chances of a recipe working out. Just a simple one today:

Make sure your oven is preheated before you put your food in. A recipe is very much a scientific formula and the amounts of liquid and leavener (baking soda/powder) are there for a reason. When you use a cold oven it defeats the purpose of following the recipe.  Using a cold oven will cause things to "melt" before they set or to over-rise and then fall in. If you've ever made cookies and they turn out flat and crunchy, it's likely you used a cold oven. The butter melts and the cookie flattens before the proteins are exposed to enough heat to set. This gives you too much spread and a flat cookie. When baking a cake you expect it to raise in the oven but in a cold oven the leavening agents (liquid- causes steam which makes the cake raise and baking powder/soda- a chemical reaction that causes raising, like when you mix baking soda and vinegar it explodes...) raise and raise and are never stopped so you get a cake that looks like it exploded or it can get deep cracks. In a properly heated oven, the rate of raising is timed to match how quickly the proteins set (which means it won't raise anymore) so it's not a good idea to mess with those proteins!

An oven that is too hot will cause the proteins to set too quickly and then it can't raise at all. You will end up with a dense, likely burnt and under-cooked product.

Best of luck with your ovens! Coming next..... high altitude cooking! Simple adjustments for baked goods!

Aimee's Favorite Pizza Crust

I got this from the Food Nanny--- It's my favorite recipe to use!

for 1 16 in pizza
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
3-4 cups flour

"Wake up" the yeast in warm water. After about 5 minutes add the rest of the ingredients. Knead until dough is smooth and not sticky adding the last cup of flour slowly. You can use it right away or let it rest and hour. It' snot necessary to rest but it is much easier to roll out after it has sat out.

Cook at 425-450 (depending on your oven and altitude) for 10-15 minutes. If you don't have a pizza stone cook the crust for 5 minutes before adding sauce and toppings so the crust won't be soggy.

20 Healthy Dinners Under $3

I found this link yesterday and really want to try almost all the recipes!  I looked at each one and I think they calculate the price based on the portion of each ingredient used in the recipe (makes sense).  So, if you have to go buy a whole container of rosemary or a bag of cherries, the cost will be higher.  But I suppose you could find other ways to use the rest of the ingredients later (for non-perishable items) or in meals later that week.  Or, you could double each one and use the leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day.  Please post a comment if you try one of the recipes... I always like to read reviews and make improvements!!

Remember, eating healthy does not have to be expensive! :)

p.s.  I don't know how to label posts... let me know how and I will.

Chicken Florentine Casserole

This is amazing! We just had it for dinner tonight. I had to go to a rehearsal so Marc made it all by himself. Its relatively easy but takes a little bit of prep time, and its totally worth it. It's definitely not a low-fat meal, but it's delicious!

Prep Time: 25 min; Cooking time: 25 min

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 (13.5 ounce) cans spinach, drained (We used frozen spinach, for some reason the canned stuff grossed us both out)
  
• 4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced (Marc doesn't like mushrooms so we left these out)
  
• 2/3 cup bacon bits
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place the chicken breast halves on a baking sheet; bake 20 to 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Remove from heat, and set aside.
2. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, mix in the garlic, lemon juice, cream of mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, half-and-half, and Parmesan cheese.
4. Arrange the spinach over the bottom of a 9x9 inch baking dish. Cover the spinach with the mushrooms. Pour half the mixture from the saucepan over the mushrooms. Arrange chicken breasts in the dish, and cover with the remaining sauce mixture. Sprinkle with bacon bits, and top with mozzarella cheese.
5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes in the 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) oven, until bubbly and lightly browned.

This recipe serves four people. We thought that next time we tried it we would put in more chicken, so it evened out the quantity of cheese/sauciness.